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The Light Novels of 2019 Went Back to School


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BlackPoint.



Joined: 23 Oct 2015
Posts: 708
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 2:53 pm Reply with quote
I really hope this comes true and we start getting more adaptations of romcoms, lately there simply aint that many that are airing per season, heck even just some pure good romance anime that dont have some stupid story or w/e....
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SpeckTech



Joined: 31 Dec 2014
Posts: 195
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 3:50 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Integrating adult perspectives about work and responsibility into stories about high school or early college points to the aging demographics of light novel readers.


I've noticed this a lot in myself in which works I'm consuming. games, lns, vns, etc.

Maybe it's just me getting tired of the HS setting (aside from CGDCT stuff) or maybe just looking for something to relate to where I am in life right now. Or maybe both.
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Robiii



Joined: 29 Mar 2017
Posts: 133
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 3:58 pm Reply with quote
Does anyone know all the 6 light novels shown in the beginning of the article? I recognise the first 2 but the other 4 are a complete mystery.
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Frog-kun
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 10 Jun 2017
Posts: 118
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 4:41 pm Reply with quote
Robiii wrote:
Does anyone know all the 6 light novels shown in the beginning of the article? I recognise the first 2 but the other 4 are a complete mystery.


From left to right: Tomodachi no Imōto ga Ore ni Dake Uzai (My friend's sister is only annoying to me), Osananajimi ga Zettai ni Makenai Love Comedy (A romantic comedy where the childhood friend definitely does not lose), Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Moto Kano Datta (My Stepmother's Daughter Was My Ex-Girlfriend), Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Ma ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteiru ken (The Time When the Angel Beside Me Turned Me into a Useless Excuse for a Human Being Before I Knew It), Omaera, Ohitori Sama no Ore no Koto ga Suki Sugi Daro (You guys like me too much), Chitose kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka (Chitose-kun is inside the ramune bottle).
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kyuudere



Joined: 16 Mar 2015
Posts: 25
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 4:48 pm Reply with quote
Robiii wrote:
Does anyone know all the 6 light novels shown in the beginning of the article? I recognise the first 2 but the other 4 are a complete mystery.


from left to right,
Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni Dake Uzai (ImoUza)
Osananajimi ga Zettai ni Makenai Love Comedy (Osamake)
My Stepsister is My Ex-Girlfriend (Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta)
Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Aida ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteiru ken
Omaera, Ohitorisama no Ore no koto Suki sugi daro. (お前ら、おひとり様の俺のこと好きすぎだろ。)
Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka (千歳くんはラムネ瓶のなか)

Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka (Chiramune) is illustrated by Raemz by the way, it might only have two volumes released by October, but it's already got a Drama CD adaptation in the work.
https://twitter.com/hiromu_yume/status/1207550357204656130

Along with Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun it's one of the best selling high school romcom titles published by Gagaga Bunko in recent years. If I remember correctly Chiramune also got reprinted three times this year alone. Probably will easily surpass 100k copies by next volume. The editor of Jaku-chara Tomozaki-kun also said Tomozaki has sold over 850k copies this month. Both Chiramune and Tomozaki (also ImoSae) have the same editor, he's really got keen eyes for what kind of stories that would make it big. It seems he'll also be the editor for a new romcom LN titled "Kekkon ga Zentei no Love Comedy", which will be released on Jan 17. Though the setting is not set in high school, from a brief synopsis the main character is a matchmaker at a marriage counseling office and the heroines are all adult women looking for marriage partners. So it's romcom, but with adults. The cover and the main girl looks really nice.
https://twitter.com/kiyoe_sans/status/1207886860124590080

Back to the topic, another high school romcom that was also recently released by Gagaga, Shio-taiou Satou-san ga Ore ni Dake amai, apparently got a positive reception and already topped the weekly sales in certain shops.
https://twitter.com/shosen_bt/status/1208936906030895104

So yeah, Gagaga is trying to fill the gap Oregairu left after it ends last month and I think this trend will continue. Hopefully more romcom titles will be adapted into anime and sell well.
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redcar



Joined: 04 Jun 2009
Posts: 172
Location: Texas
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 5:35 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Tomodachi no Imōto ga Ore ni Dake Uzai already has a drama CD in the works, too! It's pretty much guaranteed to get an anime at this rate.

I certainly hope so, as I found it enjoyable. Except for the cousin, she's kinda obnoxious. The actual friend's little sister is pretty great though.
Quote:
The current output of English light novel publishers is overwhelmingly skewed towards fantasy - much more so than the Japanese market.

In this vein, I'm really kinda thinking someone should localize Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary. While not one of my personal favorites, it's pretty good, and it has a Conan-esque feel to it (sans womanizing) that I feel would appeal to western fantasy audiences. It's also got great art, some interesting plots, and plenty of volumes to work with.
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HamsterExAstris



Joined: 22 Apr 2019
Posts: 12
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 8:46 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
a pronounced personality quirk (taken to the extreme with A Sister's All You Need.'s Itsuki)

That's, uh, one way of putting it.

I do hope we get to see more of those romantic comedies in English. Before I discovered light novels fourteen months ago, I would have said you were crazy if you claimed they'd become my favorite genre. And yet here I am.

(Not that I'm above the odd isekai here or fantasy novel there, but if I had to pick one or the other I think I know where I'd land.)
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Iron Maw



Joined: 29 May 2008
Posts: 489
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 9:29 pm Reply with quote
Frog-kun wrote:
Robiii wrote:
Does anyone know all the 6 light novels shown in the beginning of the article? I recognise the first 2 but the other 4 are a complete mystery.


From left to right: Tomodachi no Imōto ga Ore ni Dake Uzai (My friend's sister is only annoying to me), Osananajimi ga Zettai ni Makenai Love Comedy (A romantic comedy where the childhood friend definitely does not lose), Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Moto Kano Datta (My Stepmother's Daughter Was My Ex-Girlfriend), Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Ma ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteiru ken (The Time When the Angel Beside Me Turned Me into a Useless Excuse for a Human Being Before I Knew It), Omaera, Ohitori Sama no Ore no Koto ga Suki Sugi Daro (You guys like me too much), Chitose kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka (Chitose-kun is inside the ramune bottle).


Trends will come and go in this medium, but long-ass awkward sentence titles are forever. lol
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LegitPancake



Joined: 26 Jun 2017
Posts: 1294
Location: Texas, USA
PostPosted: Mon Dec 23, 2019 10:08 pm Reply with quote
It seems like an overwhelming majority of the school romcom/drama series are published by Kadokawa, so I really hope Kadokawa will stop giving so much priority to Yen Press, and allow J-Novel Club to license some of their more prominent series. The English market will take forever to actually see this new trend if we leave it to Yen Press. Heck, they finally licensed Bunny Girl Senpai nearly two years too late.
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Nate148



Joined: 24 May 2012
Posts: 467
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 1:19 am Reply with quote
Yen is part of Kadokawa so I don't think that will happen
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#HayamiLover



Joined: 22 Jul 2018
Posts: 796
Location: Eastern Europe
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 11:42 am Reply with quote
Isekai, like similar pop genres like CGDCT and idols, is simply oversaturated, which makes the authors try to stand out not so much in an interesting and unusual story as in a simple provocation. Yes, stories about how MC turns into a refrigerator or a sword sound rather ridiculous, but it also literally screams about a crisis of ideas in the genre.

At the same time, when we talk about school romance, I expect to get interesting and deep stories like Toradora or Oregairu, and not just another generic school harem. Could you advise any of this?

Quote:
"A handful of light novels deal explicitly with social issues and gender roles, like Skirt no Naka no Himitsu, which has a crossdresser and a trans girl as its protagonists, and Sexiled, which is inspired by the Tokyo Medical University sexism scandal
Quote:


It is really inspired by these problems, but unlike the rest of the works you mentioned, Sexiled is more likely to simply look for convenient loopholes to justify attacks on men as a class than to explore it. And judging by the over-the-top support that this work receives in the West, this is quite satisfactory for Western media critics.
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Wrangler



Joined: 11 Nov 2007
Posts: 1346
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 1:34 pm Reply with quote
I'm just going wait and see with this new wave coming.

I'm not much interested in romance or romcom stories so much. I've seen / read enough that material already.

Lordy i miss scifi.
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NoWayNoWay



Joined: 13 Jun 2015
Posts: 20
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 5:03 pm Reply with quote
#HayamiLover wrote:

It is really inspired by these problems, but unlike the rest of the works you mentioned, Sexiled is more likely to simply look for convenient loopholes to justify attacks on men as a class than to explore it. And judging by the over-the-top support that this work receives in the West, this is quite satisfactory for Western media critics.


Is this true? Did you actually read the novel or is this just your assumption based on the people who liked it? I've read so many positive things about it and really wanted to read it but maybe I'd rather not if it's really just one-sidedly going "MEN BAD!!"
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#HayamiLover



Joined: 22 Jul 2018
Posts: 796
Location: Eastern Europe
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 7:23 pm Reply with quote
NoWayNoWay wrote:
Is this true? Did you actually read the novel or is this just your assumption based on the people who liked it? I've read so many positive things about it and really wanted to read it but maybe I'd rather not if it's really just one-sidedly going "MEN BAD!!"


No, my opinion is based on a number of reviews, according to which I concluded that this LN is problematic for my views on the issue. So, you should not perceive this as an objective truth, and if you are interested in this work, it will be easier if you purchase the first volume and draw your own conclusion.

I believe that the superficial “Take That!”, which depicts other social groups in the form of generalized abusive jerks, not only does not help expose problem, but also condones hostility between people. The only such work for which I made an exception was Mahouka, because its understanding of militarism was so ridiculous that it could not be taken seriously.
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kotomikun



Joined: 06 May 2013
Posts: 1205
PostPosted: Tue Dec 24, 2019 9:51 pm Reply with quote
Wrangler wrote:
Lordy i miss scifi.


I feel like sci-fi hasn't so much gone away as become absorbed into other things. My Hero Academia is basically sci-fi with a side of fantasy, in the same manner as American superhero movies. Along the same lines, there's Dr. Stone, SAO, that Blackfox movie... that's just from CR's current-season-lineup page.

Outside of anime, Star Wars, and to some degree Star Trek, are now completely mainstream. Anime doesn't do much of the space-opera genre popularized by those two franchises anymore--though giant robot shows still come out regularly--but that's always been only one interpretation of what sci-fi should look like. Many light novels have sci-fi elements.
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